Leqir
The Leqir (Cottoandrogynileqiminius leqiris) is a subterranean-dwelling insect native to Planet Cooler 021 (formerly Planet Leqii). Because almost all of the Leqiri reside underground for the duration of their lives, they rarely come into contact with other species. The main exception to this is for soldiers in Cooler's armies. Still, they are rather standoffish around other species and do not tend to socialize unless they are put in squads or communities with other Leqiri. While Leqiri are bloodthirsty, brutal warriors, they are not carnivores. Despite this, they relish in killing and ripping apart their enemies. Their high strength makes them good soldiers, although they cannot use ki. This is a physiological anomaly not seen in any other known species of the universe. History Origins Primitive Leqiri were catalogued as early as 300,000 Before Age. Originally, they formed monarchies spanning their planet. The species lived exclusively underground. As such, when early settlers, such as the Faereth, visited the planet, they were taken by surprise to find an underground-dwelling sentient species. While at first the Leqiri fought off the Faereth, they eventually made peace when the latter species offered them space travel. With the meeting of the Faereth, the Leqiri banded together under a single female monarch, who ruled absolutely. They became obligatory allies to the wealthier alien race. As such, many small colonies of Leqiri began populating Faerin worlds, usually in the various undercities or sewers. Many were barely lawful and extremely brutal. This garnered a quick, unsavory reputation for the entire race, and they were often times racially discriminated against. When Cooler took the Faereth species under his command, he also took the Leqiri as his own. Intergalactic Usage Leqiri were not a rich or friendly race. Whereas the Faereth paid Cooler to prevent him conquering them, the Leqiri were simply conquered like any other race. The only difference was that Cooler knew who they were long before finding their home planet (due to meeting them on Faerin outposts). Cooler's first sighting of these creatures did not go too well. His procession was ambushed by a gang of young Leqiri and massacred. After losing half of his men, Cooler vaporized them easily. But their strength startled him, prompting the tyrant to actively seek their race's homeworld in order to add it to his empire. The battle for Leqii was much longer and tougher than Cooler had anticipated. Despite the Leqiri not possessing ki-wielding abilities, they proved to be very hardy and very dangerous in hand-to-hand combat. Coupled with them living underground, it was a nightmare for Cooler's soldiers to fight in such dark, cramped spaces. After losing over 100,000 soldiers, Cooler resorted to high-atmosphere bombardment and destroyed much of the planet's surface. With the ground ripped up, he sent in elite squads to crush the remaining resistance. Within hours after the bombardment, and with the death of their queen, the Leqiri gave up and became part of the imperial . They were not allowed to appoint a new ruler, and it was only a few years after Cooler's death that they regressed to monarchy. By this time, many Leqiri had spread to various planets (mostly Faerin-owned ones) and they became one of the most common alien species in the universe. Those who lived off-planet did not follow a queen, either. Habitat On their homeworld, all Leqiri live underground in vast tunneled dwellings. At the nexus of each colony is the queen's lair. This is the largest place in the entire colony. There, the queen and the branchers live in a large rounded out room that may stretch anywhere from a few hundred feet to a few miles from wall to wall, depending on the size of the colony. The drones and protectors do not live in that hollow with the females, instead making residence with their fellows, burrowing out small rooms to live and sleep off of the main tunnels. A Leqir will likely keep the same living quarters throughout their life. Aside from that, the Leqir will roam the tunnels, creating new ones as well as searching for food. A native Leqir will stay within a few miles of their queen's home for their entire life. For those who live off-planet, their habitat is much different. Most live in slums or undercities on Faerin outposts. Because of this, they will usually live in shacks or buildings (of Faerin design) without a queen to follow. Leqir often form gangs and may roam over small territories they carve out for themselves. Such Leqiri often engage in turf-wars, though this is less common on their home planet. It is rare for a Leqir to travel to many different planets. Most pick a planet and stay their for the rest of their lives, should they decide to leave Leqii. Physiology Appearance Leqir appearance varies between the castes. Below is a list of all known castes: Queens Queens have purple skin. Behind their back, they have a fleshy, parachute like bit of skin that they keep inflated to make them appear bigger. Over their head, they have long quills going down to the back of their head. They stand roughly 12 feet tall, and have much tougher skin than the rest of their race, except for the exposed area around their stomach. Their genitalia is located at the base of their fleshy parachute, on their back, though it is never used for mating. Contrary to most similar civilizations, the queen does not actually breed or lay eggs. Instead, she coats all of the eggs spawned from Protectors in her saliva, which fertilizes them. Drones Drones are the worker force of the Leqir race and are all males. They have mostly red skin, flat horizontal faces, and yellow armor-like skin all over their bodies, which covers their torso and upper arms. Their ears are downward facing and they have three of them on the back of their heads. Drones have toxic blood with moderate lethality. They possess four hearts, which beat at slightly different rates. Most drones have one heart that beats fast, two that beat slightly slower, and one that beats much slower than the rest. They possess four yellowish wings on their back which are used for flight. They have seven fingers on each hand. All drones are left handed. Because of their toxic blood, Leqiri are unable to harness ki. Payar is an example of a drone. Protectors Unique to the Leqir species, Protectors don't exist unless there is a queen. They are blue and possess the same skin armor than drones do, but it is colored red. Protectors are all females. They are created by the Queen emitting a special pheromone to select drones, which changes their gender. Protectors guard the queen and act with a hivemind. They have tails and pincers for mouths. They lack eyes and retain the toxic blood of the drones. They have four hearts, too. Where their wings are on their backs, at the base, is where their reproductive organs are. Upon mating with Branchers, Protectors lay around 15 eggs. Branchers Brachers are male drones who have sexually matured at the age of 80 years old. Drones lose much of their muscle mass and become very weak as their body deteriorates. Functions in up to three of their hearts cease functioning, and their blood loses its toxic properties. Many will grow up to five horns across their head, and they will begin shedding their skin until it fully changes color. Colors vary, and they can be striped or spotted, depending on the Brancher. They will be often exotic colors; oranges, greens, blacks, and whites, which is striking when compared to the normally dull crimson of the drones. After mating, Branchers die within a week. Lifestyle After baby Leqiri are hatched, they are raised, collectively, by the colony's protectors. They are taught how to forage for food and how to dig tunnels. All Leqiri are born as males - only the queen can change their gender. Leqiri young will group together and gradually enter the population of adults when they become full-sized, after reaching 10 years of age. When that occurs, they will join together with small existing groups of drones to live with and make tunnels with. Because of the hivemind nature of Leqiri, this is not a hard adjustment to make. Until they join in with the adult population, however, all children will live together in one big group. Drones do not grow their natural body armor until the age of 15, so they will not be enlisted in the Planet Trade Organization's ranks until this occurs. Behavior Every Leqir is completely loyal to their Queen. There are rare instances where a Leqir may rebel, but they are quickly killed by their comrades. If a large-scale rebellion is successful in killing the queen, the new queen will emit a pheromone to make all the denizens loyal once again. Leqiri are only blindly loyal when around their queen, but they have evolved to have a tendency toward loyalty. Most if not all of Cooler's Leqiri soldiers are completely loyal to him, and they treat him as their queen, even though he didn't use a pheromone on them. In Payar's case, he is unquestionably loyal to his governor. However, in the case of Leqiri who do not have a queen, and even those who merely serve another species, they have an affinity toward outside thinking and brutality which may appear unnaturally strong to other races. Leqiri are raised to fight and kill one another for a chance to merely mate, and that bloodthirstiness often manifests itself in other, more applicable ways for soldiers. They are also sentient enough to learn to speak the basic tongue. Guva (a Faerin) and Payar (a Leqir) were amongst the closest allies on Planet Cooler 92, with Payar being one of the few elites who had more respect for Guva than his captain, Banas. This was because the two races were somewhat familiar, and Guva's superiority over Payar could have reminded him of home. Reproduction After male drones reach sexual maturity and become branchers, they will go the the queen's lair and court her protectors. Often, the mating ritual entails bringing some prized dirt to the female. In any case, there are always more branchers than protectors, and males have to battle other males aside from gaining the affection of a female. The fights between branchers are often to the death. After a brancher eliminates all opposition and the female he is courting accepts his gift, he mounts her, and his penis breaks off inside her. That brancher will die about a week after mating because of this. The female will then carry the eggs for around 2 months before depositing them in the room with the queen. The queen will then cover the eggs in her saliva, which will fertilize them. Contrary to most species' mating process, the male does not fertilize the female egg. The male's sperm simply causes the female's eggs to grow in size and be filled with a collection of nutrients that are ripe for sustaining life. Normally, the female's eggs will not grow large enough to even be seen by the naked eye. The queen is the only one who can put life inside the eggs. Because of the nature of the mating ritual, Leqiri do not have recreational sex, and there is very little homosexual behavior documented. Of that which is observed, it is wholly off-planet, and wholly male. Around 2% of off-planet males engage in such behavior. Diet and feeding Leqiri are herbivores. They feed primarily on subterranean roots, plants, and fungi. They will also eat a small amount of dirt during each meal to help them gain enough nutrients to survive. Leqiri have no set meals, as they eat whenever they are hungry. While drones dig new tunnels and maintain existing ones, they also search for food amongst the dirt; and they will eat what they can find. Food is brought to protectors and the queen, however. For Leqiri who live off-planet, most will eat whatever plant material is found on the planet they live on. Since most live on Faerin-owned planets, their preferred food is a smoothie of local plants, which is a common drink in Faerin bars and markets. Longevity and mortality Drones live for around 80 years before becoming branchers. Branchers can live to about 100 years (20 more years), but many mate almost immediately (thus killing them). Protectors lives for around 275 years. Queens have been reported to live upwards of 700 years, though it is rare for one to die of old age and not be killed. Females' lifespans are shortened (about 10 years) each time they breed and lay eggs. The mortality rate of infant Leqiri on-planet is around 20%. About 30% of drones will grow to be branchers, and around 5% of branchers will live out their lives without attempting to mate (thus living around 100 years). Off-planet, the infant mortality rate is around 45%. Around 25% of drones reach the age to become a brancher. Because there are no queens off-planet, no branchers have to mate, so around 90% of those branchers live to 100 years. Leqir soldiers have a moderate mortality rate in the field of battle at 62%. Technology Leqir technology is limited. They possess rudimentary underground digging/transport vehicles, weapons similar to crossbows, and they have even have mastered the use of fire for use of incubating eggs. Their houses are mere dirt hovels. Their lack of higher technology kept them planet-bound until the Faereth arrived, and this ultimately proved to be costly in their war against Cooler. While many of them use Faerin ships to go from planet to planet, these have not been modified by the Leqir. Category:KidVegeta Category:Races Category:Dragon Ball Z The Forgotten Category:Species